IF Bathurst Bushrangers Outlaws want to make the Central West AFL grand final then they’re going to have to do it the long way.
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Outlaws were unable to handle a dominant Orange Tigers midfield as they succumbed to a 16-5-101 to 10-8-68 at Bloomfield Oval on Saturday.
The Bushrangers men had the opportunity to take back second spot on the table from the Tigers but were kept to third place.
Outlaws must now prepare for a minor semi-final game with the Dubbo Demons.
“We’ll have to do it the hard way now, so hopefully all our slip ups have come before the finals,” Bushrangers co-coach Matt Archer said.
“There were a lot of players for Orange who we hadn’t seen before, so that was a surprise. The midfield was where the match was won for them. Paul Long didn’t play, Adrian Hickey was out and Tom Galloway did a hamstring.
“We had to give away a lot of our forward line to help cover in the midfield and it showed.”
Bushrangers had the edge in the early stages but it was in the second quarter where the Tigers began to assert their dominance.
Outlaws’ seven point advantage at quarter time was quickly wiped out and the hosts were able to go into the main break up 6-1-37 to 4-5-29.
Tigers continued to reap the rewards for their accuracy inside the forward 50 as the game went on, while the Outlaws were made to pay for their missed chances late in the first half.
Brady Bennett had his kicking boots on for the Tigers as he picked up five goals.
Archer said his side’s second quarter slump proved the difference.
“We missed a couple of early chances in the second quarter. In the first quarter we played well to get ourselves on top. We probably had three or four missed goals in the second quarter when we had a lot of ball in the forward half,” he said.
“Tigers had the breeze in the second quarter and they carried that momentum into the third quarter.
“Against Dubbo we’re going to need a big improvement.”
Orange were a cut above the side who turned up in June’s 62-point loss to the Outlaws at George Park.
Following last week’s loss to the Bathurst Giants, Saturday marked the first time since the Bushrangers’ split into two clubs that the Outlaws have lost two consecutive matches.